Pleased To Meet You
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Years ago, Troy Bolton met the girl of his dreams and lost her the same day. Holding on to only a first name and an old photo on his phone, he is unable to move on. Now when he's finally getting serious with a new girl, she comes back into his life. AU
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**A/N: **Here is the first chapter of a new HSM chapter story. I actually started it a long time ago and wrote three chapters. But they were really, really short and I felt the need to rewrite them instead of posting them. I finally got around to fixing chapter one, this, and it's still on the short side, but I like the way I wrote this chapter more than the next two, so it was hard to change it or add to it. Well, here it is. And since my internet has been down (and I write my A/Ns when I type the updates not when I post) who knows, this might be posted along with a multitude of chapters after it….or it might be complete! Who knows. If not at least it will be posted with a truckload of drabbles, oneshots, and other story updates. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM.

**Chapter One**

Troy walked into the gym, offering a quick wave to the people he knew as he headed for the basketball courts in a back where Chad would be waiting for him. He pushed through the doors to the courts and headed inside. He put down his bag on the bench and unzipped his sweat jacket, tossing it on top of his bag. Chad was already shooting some free throws solo, and Troy joined him. Chad gave him a quick nod of greeting and passed him the ball.

He and Chad did this often—met at the gym to shoot some hoops and decompress. Sometimes it was to unwind after a stressful week at work (which were most weeks), sometimes to blow off steam after a fight with their current significant others (which usually just meant when Chad said something stupid). This time, however, the topic of conversation seemed to be Troy's decision—or lack of one—to propose to his girlfriend of a year, Claire.

"So when are you going to do it? How are you going to do it?" Chad asked excitedly after awhile of playing, clapping his hands.

Troy shot the ball, "I haven't even decided _if_ I'm going to do it, let alone when and how."

"You asked your mother for your family ring. You're in and out of relationships so quickly, she probably thought you never would. So now that you have, she's probably sitting by the phone, expecting a call any day now to hear the good news. You're not going to disappoint her now, are you?"

"This is a big step. My mother would want me to make the right decision," Troy shrugged.

"You love Claire, don't you?" Chad asked frankly.

"Of course," Troy nodded—the answer obvious.

"Your family likes her. _Loves _her, more than you I think sometimes. You know your friends like her," Chad gestured at himself. "She's beautiful, smart, funny and _still_ chooses to date _you_," Troy rolled his eyes, but Chad continued, "What could be wrong with her that you can't just pop the question?"

"I don't know. There's just something about her that just doesn't' quite click," Troy shot another basket.

Chad rebounded and held the ball, "No, don't do that Troy. You cannot spend the rest of your life hung up on some girl you met _once_, _ten years ago_."

"I'm not—" Troy began.

Chad cut him off, "Save it, Troy. You've done it with every girl you've dated since high school. You compare her to this hour you spent with a girl you only know by her first name and a picture on your phone, find something wrong, and dump her."

"I have not," Troy shook his head, walked over to Chad and took the ball from him.

"Must we go through this again?" Chad raised an eyebrow as Troy shot the ball and missed. "It's what you do, _every time_."

Troy chased the ball down and once he had it, he flipped around to face Chad, "Okay, name one time I did that."

"I'll do you one better. I'll name five. Leah, bottle blonde. Emma, believes magazines qualify as reading," Chad ticked them off on his fingers, "Bethany, hates skiing. Renee, hates New Year's. And don't forget Megan and the dreaded 'karaoke incident.'"

When he was done, Chad glared pointedly at Troy. Troy stared back relentlessly until Chad scowled. Then his resolve broke and Troy exclaimed, "I don't do that!"

"Whatever you say, Troy. But Claire is the absolute first girl you've been serious with since you met this Gabrielle, or whatever."

"Gabriella," Troy corrected instantly, without thinking.

"See!" Chad exclaimed, "Man, it's been like a decade or more since you met this girl and you haven't seen her once since. You don't know where she was from or even if she is still there or halfway around the world by now. There's a very good possibility that you will never, and I mean _never_, see this girl again. You cannot use her as the standard you compare the girls, who _are_ in your life whereas she is _not_, against. You need to forget her."

"First of all, it's not like that," Troy said firmly. "And secondly, I _have_ forgotten her."

"Sure, I'll believe that when it's actually true," Chad shook his head, "But for me, please, just don't do it with Claire, okay? Because I'm telling you, you'll regret it."

"I'm not doing anything," Troy replied, passing the ball to Chad.

"Sure," Chad shot the ball.

Troy rebounded and tossed the ball back, "I better get showered. I'm meeting Claire for early drinks with some new girl from her work."

"Okay, man. Have fun," Chad said, shooting one last basket.

Troy chuckled, "I'll try."

-+-+-+-

Troy was running a little late as he arrived at the restaurant where he was meeting Claire and her friend. Once he was in the door, he scanned the restaurant's bar for Claire. She and her friend were already there waiting, and he spotted them near the end of the bar. He picked up his pace as he crossed the restaurant and made his way down the bar. He was next to Claire in no time. Without giving the other girl much of a glance, Troy swooped down to greet Claire with a quick kiss.

"Sorry I'm late," Troy said quickly as he pulled off his jacket and hung it over the seat next to Claire.

Claire smiled, "No problem, babe. I hope you don't mind that we started without you."

"Ah, that's okay," Troy waved it off, "Next round will have to be on me then."

"You can bet on it," Claire tilted her head up to receive another quick kiss. Then she put on her let's-get-down-to-business voice, "Okay, so, Troy, this is my new friend. She just moved to New York and started a job in my office. We bonded over the proverbial water cooler and discovered a mutual dislike of our psycho boss man," Claire pulled the girl forward, so that Troy could meet her. "Troy Bolton, meet Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is my darling boyfriend, Troy."

Troy finally looked up to take in Claire's friend. Almost instantly his eyes widened and his heart began to pound rapidly against his chest. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears as he flushed. Only one thought crossed his mind in that moment: _Oh. My. God_.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**A/N: **Here's the second chapter. I got around to rewriting it. I actually lengthened it quite a bit by adding a couple scenes. Anyway, enjoy. R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Chapter Two**

Troy couldn't believe that he was actually seeing what he was seeing in front of him. He actually had an urge to wave his hand in front of his face to see if she was still there just the same when he stopped. It seemed impossible that she could actually be there when he had been forced to officially declare her a ghost of his past just hours before.

This was the girl, _the_ girl. A girl he had been searching for, for _ten years_. She was exactly what Chad said she was—a standard he measured all the girls he dated against. She was his idea of perfection. His dream girl.

And here she was right in front of him, finally he had found her, and she was being introduced to him by his _girlfriend._ The timing couldn't have been any worse. Of course he would find her just two weeks after he asked his mother for their family ring, to propose to a girl who was not her. Seriously, it had to be the worst case of bad timing _ever_.

Troy had to forcedly close his mouth, which had fallen slack at the sight of her. He swallowed hard and tried to bring his body back under his control. He had to remind himself that his girlfriend was standing right beside him and if he began to behave oddly then she would take notice and figure out that something was up. Troy saw Gabriella's eyes light up in recognition and he knew she was going to say something about it.

He wasn't sure exactly what compelled him to do so, but he offered up a hand to shake hers. He put a smile back on his face and greeted her, "Pleased to meet you."

"Oh!" Gabriella squeaked in surprised and hastily reached out to take his hand. They shook slightly as she said, "It's wonderful to finally meet you. I've only known her a week and all Claire can do is talk about how amazing you are."

"She's exaggerating, I'm sure." Troy responded.

"Oh don't be silly!" Claire giggled, moving over to clutch at Troy's arm dramatically. "Every word is true."

Troy let out an uncomfortable laugh. He gestured over the bartender and asked, "So…what are you girls having?"

Claire smiled up at him, "My usual."

"Apple Martini. And you Gabriella?" Troy glanced over at her momentarily. He didn't allow himself to keep his eyes on her long because he felt if he did he would end up staring, which wouldn't be a good idea.

"Raspberry Kamikaze," Gabriella answered briefly.

"That's an Apple Martini, Raspberry Kamikaze, and I'll just take a beer," Troy ordered and the bartender began to mix the drinks. Once they had their drinks in front of them, Troy tried to make conversation, "So, Gabriella, how do you like New York so far?"

"It's absolutely amazing," Gabriella breathed after she swallowed down a sip of her drink she had taken, "I don't think I've ever been to a place like it before."

"This city is certainly one of a kind," Claire agreed. "Not that I would really know, I don't think I've ever been more than a hundred miles outside the city before. Troy's the one who would really have an opinion. He has traveled all over."

"I haven't really traveled. It's more that I lived on the other side of the country for most of my life," Troy corrected.

"He grew up in Albuquerque, went to UNM on a basketball scholarship, got a BA in business management, and then came all the way out here to NYU to get a masters in marketing. Since then, he's been working at a big corporate marketing firm. What has it been, two three years?" Claire gave a more detailed explanation.

"Nearly three," Troy responded.

"Three years," Claire repeated, and then she laughed lightly at herself, "I'm just singing his praises, aren't I? I'm sorry."

Gabriella smiled, "It's okay. It seems deserved."

"Let's stop talking about me, How about you Gabriella? You're the one that we need to get to know," Troy said, "Tell us about yourself."

-+-+-+-

They had been sitting at the bar talking for a good hour or so, when Troy excused himself to the restroom. As he was coming down the hallway that housed the entrances to the restrooms back toward the bar, Gabriella was just heading for the woman's room. She offered him a small smile when she saw him, nodding briefly in acknowledgement, and then made to continue on her way without a word.

"Hey Gabriella?" Troy blurted out, once again unsure of what compelled him to do so.

It caused her to stop and turn back toward him, "Yeah, Troy?" Gabriella tilted her head to the side.

Troy swallowed, "About what happened?"

"What happened?" Gabriella frowned, her brow furrowed.

Troy hesitated for the briefest moment. He couldn't decide if it would be better to let Gabriella go on believing he didn't remember her, or if he should tell her the truth. Finally, he went with his first instinct and told her.

"I remember you," Troy stated simply.

"Oh," Gabriella squeaked again, "See I wasn't sure about that…It was a long time ago. I mean, it looked like recognized me, but I couldn't tell. Then you reached out to shake my hand and I thought I had just imagined it."

"No, I recognized you almost immediately. I was surprised," Troy shrugged, "It's just Claire has no idea about that night. It's not something that has come up in conversation before, you know? I kind of just _reacted._"

Gabriella raised an eyebrow, "Is there some reason why she shouldn't know?"

"No!" Troy exclaimed instantly, then cleared his throat, "I mean no, of course not."

Gabriella laughed lightly, "No worries Troy. I'll keep it just between you and me if that's what you want."

"You don't mind?" Troy asked quietly.

"Not at all," Gabriela responded, "If it's no big deal, it doesn't matter either way, does it?"

Gabriella offered another small smile before turning and walking back to the restrooms. Troy let out a sigh of relief as he headed back to the bar. For some reason it felt as if he had dodged a bullet. He slipped back into his seat next to Claire and gestured to the bartender for a fresh drink. Claire leaned into him and pressed a light kiss to his cheek.

"What do you think of Gabriella?" Claire asked.

"She's nice," Troy answered.

"Just nice?" Claire prodded, "We just spent an hour drilling every drop of information out of her, and the only adjective you can come up with is 'nice'?"

"She seems like a lot of fun, and she is a perfect friend for you," Troy elaborated but went no further so that there wasn't a chance that he blurted out something that Claire wouldn't find appropriate coming from her boyfriend, "Happy?"

"Happy," Claire nodded.

Troy felt relieved that he had escaped without having Claire know about having met Gabriella before. However, Gabriella's questioned continued to echo in his head. Was there a reason why Claire shouldn't know? Troy didn't want to admit it, but something inside of him said that anymore time in the presence of his dream girl and the answer wouldn't be no any longer. In fact it might just become a big yes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**A/N: **Here's chapter three of this! I got it to be longer than the first two. It might be a little OOC that they would have a personal conversation like I have in this chapter, but I wanted it to be that way, so…And I made Gabriella a little more comfortable with the whole "freaky-math-girl" thing. It can be either because she was just naturally was more comfortable with it or it can be that she's grown to see it as a good thing over time (i.e. she likes that she's intelligent and that it's gotten her places in life), you can decide. Anyway, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Chapter Three**

The rest of the drinks outing had gone uneventful. Gabriella had kept to her word and didn't mention anything that might make Claire suspicious of the fact that they might already know each other. They kept up the rouse of getting to know each other easily—though it shouldn't have been too difficult as they didn't know each other all that well to begin with.

Once they parted ways after drinks, Troy was content to think he might not have to cross paths with Gabriella anytime soon, which, he was certain, would be better for the both of them in the long run. That odd sense of relief he had felt that Clair hadn't found them out would not dissipate. He didn't fully understand it, but he shrugged it off as they said goodbye to Gabriella and headed home.

Troy hadn't counted on seeing Gabriella again for a long time, prior to Gabriella Claire rarely brought her friends from work around, but only a week or so after the first reunion Claire invited Gabriella over for dinner at the apartment Troy and she shared. Gabriella accepted and Troy had to prepare himself for another evening in her presence.

Gabriella had arrived with the same small smile on her face as she greeted them both. Claire and Troy welcomed her in, though Troy's smile wavered when he took her hand. There was no mistaking the tingle that ran through him at her touch, and it unnerved him. He hadn't felt anything like that before. If he was honest, he _had_ felt it before—with her on New Year's Eve ten years before. It made him feel off balance, because he didn't want to feel it, not when he should be feeling things like that with Claire, his _girlfriend_. He pushed it aside and tried to remain composed.

Only moments after Gabriella came through the door, Claire's cell phone rang. She picked it up and glanced at the caller ID flashing on her screen. She gave Gabriella and Troy an apologetic look, "I'm so sorry you guys, I have to take this."

Claire retreated into her and Troy's bedroom and closed the door for privacy. Troy shrugged and turned to Gabriella, "Make yourself at home."

"Okay," Gabriella nodded. She put down her purse and sat down on the couch.

Troy remained standing, however, taking to pacing slightly. Every so often he would sneak a glance in the direction that Claire had gone—as if willing her to return. He wasn't sure what to say to Gabriella when it was just them two. Finally, Claire did return. Her cell phone was closed but still clutched in her hand. She had pulled on her jacket and had her purse slung over her shoulder. Troy was not happy to see her looking ready to go out. It wasn't a good thing for her to be leaving, he didn't like it one bit.

"I'm sorry. My brother Tyler is having a crisis. I have to go over to his place to help him sort things out." Claire announced.

Troy sighed, covering for how uncomfortable he was that Claire was leaving, and responded, "He is never going to learn how to live on his own if you're always over there doing things for him."

"He's still just a kid. What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't help him out?" Claire raised an eyebrow.

"He's twenty-one," Troy replied flatly.

Claire chuckled, "Okay, so he's got a kid's mentality and access to alcohol. All the more reason to keep an eye on him." She walked over and gave Troy a kiss, "Show Gabriella how to peruse the take out menus. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Oh, well, I could catch a cab home and we can do this another time," Gabriella stood as Claire began to walk back toward the door.

"Nonsense!" Claire shook her head, "Troy has nothing better to do. He can entertain you for a night, right Troy?"

Troy's eyes widened, caught off guard, but answered obligatorily, "Right, sure."

"Great. I'll see you later honey, Gabriella. Have fun!" Claire said as she breezed out the door.

Once Claire was gone, the two remained standing for a few moment sin an awkward silence. Neither had a clue about what to say or do in this situation. Troy had taken to staring at his shoes, occupying himself by shifting his wait from his heels to his toes. Gabriella bit her lip and turned to address him.

"I could go," She offered. "You really don't have to 'entertain' me. I'm perfectly fine with calling a cab and going home. I mean, the whole point of tonight was to have a little fun with Claire…and she's not here anymore, so…I'm just rambling. I'm sorry. I really can just go, if you want."

"No," Troy shook his head. His nerves had suddenly dried up and he felt an intense urge to get to know her better while it was just the two of them. "It's really no problem. Like Claire said, I have no life. So, why not?"

"She didn't say that," Gabriella laughed.

"Not in so many words," Troy replied, "But for all intents and purposes, it meant the same thing. It's alright. I really don't have anything better to do."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Come here," Troy led her into the kitchen and opened one of the drawers revealing a stack of take out menus. "What'll you have?"

-+-+-+-

Sometime later they were sitting on the patio chairs set up on the balcony of the apartment, eating Chinese food right out of the little boxes. After browsing through all of the take out menus, Gabriella had finally landed on as luck would have it Troy's favorite Chinese restaurant. He called in the order and while they waited for the delivery boy to get there, Gabriella told him some stories about her childhood. Troy countered with stories about how obsessive his father had been about basketball. When their food arrived, Troy insisted on paying although Gabriella had pulled her wallet out of her purse. He just waved her off. He suggested they go eat on the balcony and she agreed. So there they were talking like old friends as they ate their dinner. Then Gabriella brought up Claire, and Troy felt the urge to be more open on the matter than he had been with even Chad.

"How long have you and Claire been together?" Gabriella asked.

"Isn't that something that Claire would have told you already?" Troy responded.

Gabriella laughed lightly, "Okay, so when I said Claire talks about you all the time, I meant more that she talks about you in that really girly way, like 'he's so romantic' and he's the best boyfriend _ever_.'" Gabriella did an impression of Claire's voice and mannerisms and Troy laughed with her. Then she turned back to her box of noodles, "She doesn't tell me the big things. We haven't known each other long enough, I think."

"We've known each other for even less time," Troy pointed out.

"But it doesn't feel that way," Gabriella said. "Don't you think?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah."

"So, how long have you and Claire been together?" Gabriella repeated the question, with a small smile on her face.

"A little over a year," Troy answered.

"Hmm, sounds serious," Gabriella took another bite of her noodles.

"I guess you could say that," Troy shrugged.

"What? You don't think so?"

"No, it's not that," Troy sighed, "It's just hard for me to take the next step and make it real."

"Next step? _Oh,_" Gabriella caught on, "You mean, you're thinking about proposing."

"Not exactly," Troy shook his head, "She's expecting a ring from me any day now, and I have one—my mom's engagement ring, a family heirloom that was passed down from my Dad's mother. But I'm just not ready, you know?"

"Not ready for the commitment?" Gabriella mused.

"I'm not scared of commitment or anything, if that's what you're thinking," Troy responded, throwing his hands up. "I just can't bring myself to do it."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment as she thought about it, and then she spoke quietly a question, "Do you love her?"

"What?" Troy replied and then swallowed, composing himself, "Yeah, of course. I love her."

"You don't sound so certain about that," Gabriella commented.

Her tone wasn't accusatory or judging. Troy looked at her for a minute, taking in her expression. She wasn't trying to push him, or contradict or influence what he had to say. She was just observing him. And she had expressed her opinion on the truth of the statement. She was genuinely listening to what he was saying and trying to help him, it seemed. That's what got him to continue talking about it.

"I don't know," Troy blew out a breath and stretched his arms over his head. "Claire is great, she's an amazing person , but…"

"Oh no, the dreaded '_but_._,'_" Gabriella laughed lightly at herself.

Troy smiled at her before he continued, "I've just always had this idea about my perfect girl and I know she exists out there. In some ways Claire is what I want, but in others she doesn't exactly _fit_."

"Maybe your standards are just too high," Gabriella joked lightheartedly.

"Maybe," Troy replied when she nudged him playfully.

"Hey, if this is too personal, we can talk about something else," Gabriella suggested.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind," Troy responded, "It's really nice talking to you. I don't have many people I can talk to about this kind of thing. My best friend Chad, he's the one I usually go to, doesn't understand. He just keeps pushing me to do it. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, he thinks that since I have a ring that it would be wrong for me to disappoint my family after asking for it, and disappoint Claire by not asking her when she wants to get married."

"If you knew you weren't ready, why did you ask your mom for the ring?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't know," Troy answered honestly, "When I was back home last, it was right after our one year anniversary. My Dad made a comment about settling down, and if I was ever going to. I'm only twenty-six, I know I shouldn't have to consider settling down an immediate necessity, but what he said got to me. Claire had been hinting at it for awhile, leaving bridal magazines and jewelry store catalogs around the apartment. So, I broke down and asked. I wasn't even going to tell anyone that I had it, but my parents called Chad's parents and they told Chad and well, here we are. Sometimes I feel like I _have to_ do it."

"Well, Claire and I are a lot alike," Gabriella replied, "And I personally wouldn't want you to propose if you weren't absolutely sure that you wanted it too. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's anyway to start a marriage, at least one that'll last. Claire would understand if you explained how you felt about it, and if she doesn't then it's obviously not the right move for you to propose right now. You should talk to her."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Troy agreed.

"Just FYI, I was the freaky math girl at all my schools, I got a 4.0 GPA in high school _and_ college, I earned nearly a whole year's worth of college credits before I graduated high school, I led the high school I was at last to a Scholastic Decathlon Championship two consecutive years, and I actually had one of my teachers admit she thought I was smarter than her," Gabriella explained, "Me being right is a tendency you'll have to get used to."

Troy looked at her awestruck for a minute, but then at the sight of her small smile gracing her lips he burst out laughing, "I'll make note of that."

They talked for a little longer about less heavy topics and finished their dinner. After that Gabriella called a cab. While she waited for her ride, she helped Troy clean up. She got a call from the cab saying he had arrived and she prepared to leave. She grabbed her purse and Troy walked her to the door. He thanked her for listening and helping him out with the whole situation with Claire. _Anytime_, she had responded. Troy actually thought he might just take her up on that as he closed the door behind her. Once she was gone, he got ready to go to bed. Not that he thought he could sleep. He was still reeling from spending another whole night with the girl who in all actuality he never should have seen again, but somehow the universe had brought back into his life.

He was still lying awake in the darkness of his bedroom when Claire returned. Though she had said she'd be home as soon as possible, he knew she would be back until late. Tyler was the baby in her family, and he used that to his advantage. He took his smallest problem and weaved it into this huge drama, because he knew Claire or their older brother Mark would take care of it. Every time that Tyler called Claire, during the year she and Troy had been together, she dropped everything and was gone for hours. That night he was perfectly okay with that. He needed the time to think.

Troy could hear Claire moving around in the living room. Then the door to their bedroom opened and light filtered in. Claire used the light from the hallway to find her way around the room as she changed and got ready to join him in bed. Once she was ready she walked back into the hall and turned off the light before heading back into the bedroom and crawling into bed next to him.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," Claire whispered as she curled up next to him.

"It's okay, I know how it is with your family," Troy responded. "I understand."

"I feel bad for leaving you alone with Gabriella," Claire murmured, yawning softly.

Troy shook his head, "It was fine. We had a good time."

"That's good," Claire answered, "I wish I could have been there too. I'm going to have to make it up to her. Do you mind if I invite her to Chad's birthday party?"

He couldn't say no, so he didn't, "No, not at all. She'd have a good time. Chad and her would get along."

"Hmm," Claire yawned again, "Maybe we could set them up?"

"No," Troy responded instantly despite himself. He desperately grasped for an explanation for his answer, "He's getting pretty serious with that one girl he met at the Halloween Party, Jenna."

Claire laughed lightly, "Chad? Serious? I don't believe it. But he's your friend, you know him best. I'll invite Gabriella when I see her at work on Monday."

"Great."

Troy had mixed feelings about Gabriella going to the party. The good were easy to decipher. He was happy that he knew he would see her again. The bad weren't so easy. He wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to see her because he felt it would be bad for his relationship with Claire, or if it was because he thought _Claire _being there would be bad for his relationship with Gabriella. Either way, he had some serious problems.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **This is the latest chapter of Pleased to Meet You after a long wait. I don't know what it was but I suddenly got a kick of inspiration. I've got all the way to chapter seven written and chapter eight started, with only an epilogue after that. So look for those updates soon. I am putting most of my focus on my chapter stories right now. They are in dire need of attention. :) Anyway, enjoy! R&R! (oh and check out the poll on my profile and vote please). Thanks! -Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical.

**Chapter Four**

"No way!" Chad stopped in his tracks and the ball fell out of his hands.

"I know," Troy responded, "I kinda felt the same way when I was being reintroduced to her by my girlfriend."

Troy and Chad were back at the gym. After the second night around Gabriella, Troy needed some way to clear his head and figure everything out. He called Chad for some emergency hoops. Chad had been confused when Troy gave no explanation as to why it was necessary but agreed nonetheless. Since he arrived at the gym he could tell Troy was off his game—missing shots that should have been cake for the all star wildcat and running out of steam barely ten minutes into a quick matchup. No matter how hard Chad tried, Troy wouldn't tell him anything. However, after forty minutes of skirting around it and dodging Chad's questions Troy broke and told him about how Claire's work friend had been the girl from ten years ago. That was how they ended up where they were.

"Well, what did you do?" Chad asked.

"I acted like I didn't know her," Troy answered, retrieving the ball Chad had dropped and tossed it back to him.

"How'd you do that?"

"I stuck out my hand to shake hers and said 'Pleased to meet you,' and it basically went from there," Troy replied.

"That's not what I meant," Chad passed the ball swiftly to Troy who caught it against his chest with an 'oomph!' "I _meant_ how did you do that if this was _the_ girl? It was _the_ girl, wasn't it?"

"Yes and will you stop saying it like that?" Troy rolled his eyes. "I just couldn't bring that night up in front of Claire. I don't know what came over me."

"I know what came over you," Chad responded. "You were already comparing Clair to _the,_ sorry, to Gabriella and seeing them at the same time caused it to escalate. You didn't know what to do, so your mental function completely shut down and you went on instinct."

"That's actually insightful," Troy quirked a smile and Chad scoffed.

"You act like that's rare," Chad said, "I am the one you come to for advice."

"Yeah, but you usually come up with some variation of 'that's nothing a drink can't solve' or 'you can get any girl, just find another.'" Troy joked, "And it's usually so useless that I dump it and solve any problems on my own."

"That hurts, Troy. It really does," Chad shook his head and took the ball back from where it had remained stationary in Troy's hands. He stepped back and took another shot. "But honestly, you shouldn't be worrying too much. Claire doesn't bring work friends around all that of ten. You probably won't even have to see her again, anytime soon."

Troy froze in his approach toward the ball, "Well…"

"You've already seen her again, haven't you?"

"Claire invited her for dinner at our place," Troy explained quickly, "Then Tyler called, and Claire had to go out so she left Gabriella for me to entertain, _alone_."

"Oh my God, you didn't cheat on Claire, did you?" Chad exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

"No, of course not! I would never and Gabriella isn't that kind of person anyway," Troy answered defensively, "We just talked for a long time."

"Oh no. Don't do it man. You got to stop seeing this girl right now," Chad shook a finger at Troy, "If you don't the next thing you know you're gonna start doubting your relationship with Claire."

"There's one problem with that," Troy bit his lip. Chad raised an eyebrow in question, hoping to prompt an answer. "Claire already invited her to your birthday party."

Chad dropped his head, "Man, you are in for it."

"I know, I know," Troy nodded. "Claire's taken a liking to her already, I can't really do anything about it."

"Just tell me you're not really interested in this girl."

Troy hesitated, "I don't know."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," Chad shook his head, "You're a glutton for punishment Bolton, that's all I have to say."

Chad picked up the ball and took another shot. Troy rebounded, "You're probably right."

Chad had the best intentions when he advised Troy on the matter of Gabriella and Claire. The problem wasn't the value of the advice. The problem wasn't how Troy was going to avoid seeing Gabriella. The problem was that Troy didn't want to stop seeing Gabriella. The problem was that Troy didn't know what that would do to his relationship with Claire. The problem was that Troy wasn't sure if he cared. And with the engagement ring burning a hole in his duffle bag, that couldn't be a good thing.

-+-+-+-+-

The party was already in full swing when Troy and Claire arrived. It took him nearly twenty minutes to find Chad in the crowd of unfamiliar people. Claire had left Troy's side to mingle with a few of the women she recognized. When Troy finally found Chad he was in the kitchen pouring himself a drink and chatting up a group of people Troy was sure neither of them knew. Troy walked up behind Chad and slapped him on the back.

"Happy Birthday, man," Troy replied.

Chad turned around to face him with a grin on his face, "Thanks Bolton, Grab a drink, make yourself at home. The party is jumping bro."

"I can see," Troy nodded, then as an afterthought, "Who are these people?"

"No idea," Chad answered, shrugging and then taking a sip off his drink. "Word must have got out that Chad Danforth was throwing the Party of the year."

Troy chuckled, "I don't think you've made _that_ big of a name for yourself."

"Ouch," Chad mock winced, "Do you try to hurt me with your words? Or is it just an added bonus?"

"A little of both," Troy responded, grinning at the expression that appeared on Chad's face. "You make it too easy for me."

"You're making my birthday one hell of a special night," Chad shook his head.

"Glad I could help."

"So where's Claire?" Chad asked, as he took another sip of his drink.

"Around," Troy answered nonchalantly, "She saw someone she actually recognized and stopped to chat. She'll find you eventually to offer you warm wishes for survival of another year."

"And the infamous Gabriella? I'd like to meet _her_," Chad nudged Troy with a smirk.

Troy tensed, "She's not here yet."

"Oh, no? I thought she would have come with you," Chad said.

"Claire offered to share a cab with her, but Gabriella had some errand to run before she came so she had us go on without her," Troy explained, "She should be here any minute."

Chad downed his drink and tossed the cup aside, "All the better. The last thing you need is to be stuck in a confined space with your girlfriend and your number one fantasy girl."

"Okay, one, stop talking about her that way," Troy turned on Chad, "She's a friend and nothing more. Two, maybe you could start offering advice _instead_ of commentary."

"Sorry," Chad put his hand sup in surrender, "But I already gave my best advice on this situation. I've been giving it for the last ten years. _Give up on this girl_. You've got something with Claire, don't ruin that."

"But what if I could have something even better with Gabriella?" Troy mused.

"If that's where your head's at, then all I have to say is…" Chad paused for dramatic effect, "You are royally screwed and good luck to you. You're going to need it."

"Thanks a lot, man."

"I have to meet this girl you're wiling to risk your future over. She must be one hell of a girl to have you strung so tight." Chad smirked, "I might have to throw my hat in the ring."

"What about Jenna?" Troy scowled.

"It was a joke, Bolton. Don't worry, you can have your dream girl all to yourself," Chad laughed, "That reminds me, I should probably find Jenna. She has some friend from Yale she wants me to meet. It's probably some brainy chick I'll have nothing in common with—on that note, wish me luck."

"Yeah, right. Good luck," Troy shook his head as Chad left the kitchen, grabbing a couple beers out of a bucket of ice as he went.

-+-+-+-+-

Troy had been roaming around the party for an hour or more when he finally spotted Gabriella come through the door. He could actually only see about half the top of her head, but he was certain it was her. He glanced around for Claire, but she was nowhere in sight—as per usual, he rarely spent any time with her when they attended parties like this. She liked to drink and dance with the girls, while he liked to sit around and wish he was somewhere he could hear himself thing. Since Claire wasn't around, Troy took it upon himself to greet Gabriella and introduce her to their host. When he finally weaved his way through the crowd and got to her, she was standing practically with one foot out the door, looking as if she was about ready to bolt. He remembered her being shy. Though he couldn't say she looked out of place—with her Wildcat red party dress and hair curled to perfection, she looked like she should fit right in.

Troy grinned as he walked right up beside her, without her noticing, "Hi there."

"Oh," Gabriella jumped slightly. "Troy, you scared me."

"Sorry, I had to do it," Troy responded, "You looked like you were about to turn and run in the other direction. I had to do something to distract you from thinking about leaving without even saying hello."

"I wasn't thinking about leaving…" Gabriella began.

Troy raised an eyebrow.

"…Okay, maybe I was thinking about it a little," Gabriella finished. "I realized I don't know _anyone_ here."

"Neither do I," Troy joked, "But, hey, you know me, right? And Claire's around here somewhere. Come have a good time."

Gabriella bit her lip, but somewhat reluctantly said, "Okay."

"Okay," Troy nodded. "You need to meet my friend Chad, he's the lucky birthday boy having the party. Oh and you look amazing by the way."

Gabriella blushed, "Thanks. You clean up well yourself."

"I try."

Troy led Gabriella back through the crowd of people dancing. He scanned each face, trying to locate Chad or Claire. They found Chad on the opposite side of the room with Jenna and the woman that must have been Jenna's Yale friend. Chad looked as if he was about to die a slow death by boredom. When he spotted Troy approaching, he smiled widely. He had finally found an excuse to leave the conversation. He left Jenna with her friend and quickly moved toward Troy. Instead of stopping in front of Troy and Gabriella, he caught Troy by the arm and dragged him out of the room. Gabriella grabbed the hand Troy reached out so she could keep up. Once they were safely out of Jenna's sight, Chad slowed and let go of Troy.

"That was torture," Chad explained, "I had to get out of there while I could."

"It's not a big deal," Troy waved it off. Then, as he recalled why he had been looking for Chad, he pulled Gabriella forward. "By the way, Chad this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is Chad Danforth."

"So this is Gabriella," Chad appraised.

Gabriella leaned closer to Troy and quietly asked, "Does he know?"

"Yeah, he knows," Troy answered.

Gabriella reached out a hand, "Yes, I'm Gabriella."

"Chad, the best friend and birthday boy," Chad took her hand for a shake. "It's so nice to meet you finally. Troy's been talking about you a lot lately."

"Shut up, Chad," Troy said through clenched teeth.

"Has he now?" Gabriella smiled.

"He has," Chad nodded ignoring Troy's warning, "I remember when he came back to school after that ski trip a decade ago. He couldn't stop talking about the girl he sang karaoke with on New Year's. I was pleasantly surprised when he told me you had popped up again—this time as he girlfriend's coworker—because I was convinced he would never see you again."

Gabriella blushed, "Well, I guess it's true what they say about it being a small world."

"It sure is," Troy agreed.

"So…" Chad began. "I haven't see Claire yet. You seen her?"

Troy shook his head, "But seeing how long we've been here, I would say she's likely to be wherever you're keeping the alcohol."

Chad laughed, "She doesn't know how to party. You should really let her give you some pointers, you're such a dud."

"Mmhmm," Troy rolled his eyes, "Because alcohol poisoning is _so_ exciting."

"Well, I'm going to get back to my hosting duties. You two have fun," Then he said so only Troy could hear, "Be careful man."

"Oh, Happy Birthday, Chad," Gabriella called after him. Chad smiled in acknowledgement as he disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. Once Chad was gone, she turned to Troy, "So what now?"

-+-+-+-+-

Troy slowly pulled open the door to Chad's guest bedroom. He cautiously peeked inside to see if it was empty. He had tried Chad's room first but upon entering he found a couple he had never seen before enjoying a private party on Chad's bed. Troy made note to tell Chad to burn his sheets and then hightailed it out of there. His next choice was the guest bedroom and luckily it was free of any other promiscuous occupants. Troy let out a sigh of relief and slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. Then with a groan he fell back to lie down.

After introducing Gabriella to Chad, they had spent a short time in each other's company before going to find Claire. Troy could tell by the way she hugged both him and Gabriella enthusiastically that Claire was already a bit on the tipsy side. After awhile of listening to Claire's bouts of giggles, Troy excused himself to find Chad again and maybe stop by the bathroom. He left Gabriella with Claire and left the room. He hadn't gone back yet. Instead he sought out a place where he could avoid the chaos of the party and possibly drown out some of the noise. So there he was, sprawled out on Chad's quest bed in the semi-darkness.

This was not how he envisioned his night. He knew it was likely that Claire would drink more than her fill—she usually did at these kind of parties. He had foolishly believed that it would be different at this one—since she had Gabriella to entertain. But it wasn't so. Troy felt bad that he had left Gabriella out there, but he couldn't deal with Claire when she had that much alcohol in her, and he certainly couldn't deal with being around Gabriella at the same time. So, he was hiding, like he usually did at these kind of parties.

He was broken from his thoughts at the sound of the door being pushed open. He remained quiet, hoping that whoever it was would realize he was in there and leave without having to disturb him. But apparently the light being cast on him, from the one small lamp on the other side of the room, wasn't enough to make him visible because the person continued to come in. Troy could hear them groping around along the wall, and then with a click the bright overhead light came on, flooding the room with light.

"Oh my God!" A woman's voice shrieked, obviously seeing him for the first time. Troy lifted his head up to see that the woman was Gabriella. It took her a moment to recognize that she knew him. She calmed herself before speaking again, "Troy, you scared me."

"Not my intention, believe me," Troy responded with a small smile, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Gabriella stepped all the way into the room and closed the door behind her, promptly coming to sit by him, "What were you doing sitting in the dark alone?"

"It's going to sound horrible, but I'm avoiding Claire," Troy responded, "She has the tendency to drink a little too much. I don't like to deal with it, so after a certain point I find a dark corner or an empty room to wait it out until it's time to go. I let her have her fun and when she crashes I take her home."

"And why aren't you out there having some fun of your own?" Gabriella asked.

"It's not really my kind of scene," Troy answered with a shrug.

"Mine either," Gabriella agreed. "That's why I came in here too: to hide."

"It's always been more of Chad's thing. He's probably having the time of his life out there, Claire too," Troy explained, "I would rather be somewhere I could hear myself think."

Gabriella nodded, "So, have you made any progress on the proposal issue?"

"No," Troy responded, "Claire's hints are getting less and less subtle everyday. And I'm…well, I'm getting more and more sure that I'm not ready."

"I assume you haven't spoken to Claire about it," Gabriella replied.

"Not yet. I don't know how to even start that conversation. I'm stressing about her getting angry if I tell her I'm not ready. I'm stressing over keeping the ring hidden enough so she doesn't find it and get the wrong idea. I'm stressing over Chad hounding me about it. I'm just stressing in general."

"Maybe the solution is to give the ring back to your mother. Take the option off the table for awhile, calm down and then think about it again another time," Gabriella suggested. "If you're that stressed, then doing that would be better for the both of you in the long run."

"You're probably right," Troy sighed. "I wish I could talk to Claire like this. It would make things so much easier."

Gabriella tilted her head to look at him, "Then you wouldn't need me to be a voice of clarity."

Troy laughed lightly, meeting her gaze right on, "And I wouldn't want to give that up."

Gabriella bit her lip at the intensity in his voice. His eyes were locked on hers. They both knew they should feel uncomfortable with the situation but oddly enough they felt more comfortable with where they were than either had for a long time. Troy could feel himself leaning closer to her. But at the last moment he jerked back and forced himself to look anywhere but at her. If he looked at her, he would be lost to it. _But it wouldn't be right_, was the mantra in his head.

"Do you know where Troy is? Have you seen Troy? My boyfriend, he's about this high, likes to play sports, you know the one with the hoops…_wait_, I don't know you…" Claire's voice could suddenly be heard loud and clear from the other side of the door. "Troy, where are you?"

Troy sighed and called out, "I'm in here Claire."

"Troy? You in there?" Claire's voice got closer. They heard the doorknob rattle, "I can't open this. Troy, come out. I wanna go home."

Troy reluctantly stood and helped Gabriella to her feet. "I should get her home."

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, I should be going too. Enough fun for one night, right?"

"It was nice having you to talk to and hid with," Troy offered a smile.

"Anytime," Gabriella offered again.

Troy's smile widened, knowing full well he shouldn't even acknowledge that offer. Especially not when he had a drunk girlfriend standing—hopefully standing—on the other side of the door. It scared him, because for a moment he had actually considered kissing Gabriella—he had wanted to kiss her and he was pretty sure she wanted him to kiss her too—Claire be damned. And he knew if he was as secure in his relationship with Claire as he said he was, he never should have even thought about it. But he had and he didn't know where to go from there.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Here's chapter five. Three more to go, and then an epilogue which I started writing today! The ending of this one isn't very good, but I think the chapter to come is going to be good…hopefully :) Oh, and go vote in the poll on my profile please! Anyway, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM. Though on Tuesday I will be the owner of a HSM3 DVD. :)

**Chapter Five**

_"I'm in trouble,"_ was the line of thought most dominating Troy's time since Chad's birthday party.

Once he left that room he put all his focus on getting Claire home safely. But once he had done that his mind slipped back to that moment with Gabriella. Troy wasn't sure what he had been thinking right then—he had been that close to cheating on a girlfriend he supposedly loved. He was having some real issues—ones he wasn't sure he knew how to resolve. Hence the "_I'm in trouble_" mantra pounding away at his consciousness.

For days he was on edge—frustrated that he didn't know how to act in his situation. He was used to handling his problems in his life like he handled obstacles in a basketball game. There was always an established play to be used to avoid the opponent. Since Gabriella had come back into his life he felt like he was in one of those musical theater pieces that the Evans twins and Darbus, his old homeroom teacher, had loved back in high school. When things went wrong in one of those a person had to improvise, relying on their own creativity to solve the problem. Troy didn't know how to do that.

It seemed as if Claire could tell he was feeling off, because she began to act in ways to counter his behavior. As he grew a little distant and standoffish, Claire became irritable and snappy. For days they had been skirting around each other, lying in wait for one of them to break. It came to a head when Claire, once again, left out the latest bridal magazines. Troy, trying to push the idea of marriage and proposing out of his head, gathered them up to store them away in a drawer out of sight. Unfortunately, Claire caught him doing that and all hell broke loose.

She had rushed forward and tore the magazines out of Troy's hands, slamming them back down where they had been on the table, "I had those there for a reason!"

"Yeah, I know exactly _why _you had them there, Claire," Troy responded coolly. "But right now, I'm asking you: _don't._"

"Don't?" Claire repeated, an eyebrow raised. "Don't what, Troy?"

"You know what as well as I do," Troy snapped. "I'm not in the mood for your dropping of hints."

"I wouldn't have to drop hints if you would just take the bait already," Claire exclaimed.

"Well maybe I don't want to," Troy shot back angrily, a scowl set deep in his features.

Claire recoiled as if she had been slapped across the face, "I…wow…I can't believe you just said that."

"Really Claire? Are you sure about that?" Troy rounded on her, "After months and months of dropping the same little hints over and over and not getting a response, you didn't pick up on the possibility that it wasn't going to happen?"

"I thought you might be a little slow on the uptake," Claire replied.

Troy scoffed, "Apparently, so are you."

If Troy had been thinking clearly, he would have realized he was only taking his frustration out on Claire. He wasn't meaning to say half the things he was saying. He was lashing out because he had nowhere else to release those emotions. But Troy wasn't thinking clearly—not even _close_ to clearly. In the moment, he was angry and was saying anything that would get Claire to leave him alone so he could clear his head and get back to trying to figure out how to solve his problems. Because Claire and her bridal magazines, and jewelry catalogs, and talk of coworkers, friends and obscure family members tying the know weren't helping him—they were just making the situation worse for both of them.

Claire's expression changed from hurt to a firm determination, "Why don't you want to marry me Troy?"

And there it was, out in the open.

Neither of them had ever used the term marriage—or any form of the word—when referring to the other in a conversation between them. Claire had left her clues around the house, immersed them in everyday conversation, and Troy had picked up on them loud and clear—but they had never talked about it as an option for themselves either in the present or for the future. Claire had never come out and said she wanted to get married and Troy had obviously never said he didn't want to. But now that the word had been said, it hung in the air heavy and thick around them. There wasn't a way to sweep it all under the rug anymore. They were going to have to face it, one way or another.

-+-+-+-+-

Troy hadn't given Claire an answer. Unable to form the words, he had chosen to instead walk out of the room. And, though in the few days that followed the argument Claire hadn't pressed him for an answer, it wasn't that Claire had forgotten. She had made the quite common decision to not speak to him until he chose to answer. Troy had always hated the silent treatment, and she believed if she gave him the cold shoulder long enough he would break and tell her the truth. However, as the situation was unique it wasn't likely to accomplish what she hoped to. The silence was allowing Troy the chance to attempt to think things through without the pressure of Claire's persistent pushes toward proposing. As long as she was angry with him, she wasn't influencing him to propose under false pretenses. For that time, he wouldn't have to fear proposing out of a feeling of obligation. It also meant that the one time she went out with Gabriella—to apologize for her behavior at the party—she didn't drag him along with her.

While it gave him time to think, it didn't do much to improve his mood.

-+-+-+-+-

"Down in the dumps, Bolton?" Chad commented as he walked into Troy's apartment.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Haha."

"What's got you in such a sour mood?" Chad asked as he pulled off his jacket and hung it up.

Troy pushed the door closed and followed Chad toward the living room, "Claire and I had a fight."

"_Oh_," Chad nodded, dropping down on the couch, "Did it have something to do with your new friend?"

"She asked me why I didn't want to marry her," Troy replied, sinking down onto the couch to sit next to Chad.

Chad cringed, "Ouch."

"I know," Troy agreed.

"That's terrible, man. Do you know what brought that on?"

"I was putting away the stacks of bridal magazines she left laying around," Troy answered. "She blew up at me. We got in an argument. Then she threw that out at me."

"What did you say?" Chad questioned.

"I didn't say anything," Troy admitted, "I walked out of the room and now Claire isn't speaking to me. But I have to say, it's probably better that way. Gives me a chance to think everything through."

"What's there to think through?" Chad shook his head, "You need to tell Claire that you do want to marry her. That you have your mother's ring and you are going to propose. That she just caught you on a bad day. You need to tell her that."

"And what if none of that is true?" Troy snapped. He pushed himself off the couch and began to pace. "I've been thinking about it and I think I am going to give the ring back to my mom."

"Are you crazy?" Chad exclaimed. "You're set, man. You have a career, a nice place and you have a girl any guy would give his right arm for—and you're going to throw it all away for what? A girl you barely know?"

"Maybe I don't see it like that."

"You have a future with Claire. You can't give that up to chase after the way you felt for one night ten years ago." Chad replied.

"But she's here!" Troy countered, "And Claire's great, but I just have a feeling…it would be a mistake to propose to her right now. With all the pressure on me from all directions, yours included, I wouldn't be doing it because I wanted to if I did it now. And that wouldn't be fair to either of us."

Chad frowned, "You think I'm pressuring you?"

"Well, what do you call all that 'you have to propose to her', 'you already have the ring', 'don't throw it away' talk? Because I, personally, call that pressure," Troy said, "I thought you, at least, would see my side of things. I expect it from my parents and Claire—that's normal. But from Chad Danforth the perpetually single? I thought you would be the last person pushing me toward the alter."

"So I'm not rushing to settle down, but that's me. You want to get married, you want to start a family, don't you?" Chad responded.

"Maybe I do. I don't know. I don't think I'm ready for it, not quite yet," Troy admitted, "And even if I was sure that I wanted to settle down, that doesn't mean that I necessarily want it with Claire."

"But you love her…"

"I think…I think I _thought_ I was in love her. I care about her, don't get me wrong. And maybe I do love her in a different way. But I think, I always knew she wasn't the one." Troy sighed, "I don't want to hurt her, but…"

"None of this would have happened if that Gabriella hadn't turned up…" Chad shook his head.

"Maybe," Troy conceded, "But isn't it better that I realized this now and not years from now when it's too late to change anything?"

"Whew, you have some problems," Chad commented after a moment of silence. "This is why I am never getting married."

"What? You and Jenna aren't headed in that direction?" Troy joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah…about that," Chad laughed nervously, "Jenna and I aren't headed in any direction, at least not together."

"You broke up with her?" Troy questioned incredulously, "Already? Wow, it's a wonder I come to _you_ for advice."

"Probably not your smartest move," Chad agreed.

Troy's response was interrupted by Claire's arrival. The front door was pushed open and she blew in, dropping a few shopping bags on the ground by the door. Not even looking in their direction, she turned and headed into the kitchen. Troy and Chad shared a look as they listened to her moving around the kitchen—the sink turning on, cabinets opening and closing. Troy sighed—Claire was still really angry at him, not that he could blame her.

"You really pissed her off," Chad muttered under his breath.

"I know," Troy shot back.

Finally, Claire reemerged from the kitchen and headed in their direction. She looked up and met Troy's eyes for a split second before glancing away. She smiled politely when her eyes landed on Chad, "Hey Chad, what's new?"

"Not much," Chad answered, "What have you been up to?"

"You know, the usual," Claire responded, "How's Jenna?"

"Well we kinda…" Chad began before Troy could stop him. It hadn't really mattered since there wouldn't have been an easy way to warn him without Claire noticing,, "…broke up yesterday."

Troy repressed the urge to groan.

"Oh really?" Claire had on her thinking face, and with the comment about setting Chad and Gabriella up from before, Troy had a good idea of what she was thinking. "That's too bad."

Chad shrugged, "You know what they say, plenty of fish in the sea."

"That's the right attitude," Claire agreed. "So I was going to make a small dinner, will you be joining us?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Chad nodded.

"Well, I'm going to put my bags away and then I'll get it started," Claire said.

As Claire picked up her bags and disappeared into the bedroom, Troy sighed. It was going to be another long night.

-+-+-+-+-

Chad had finally gone home and Troy was changing before he went to bed. He could hear Claire finishing up with the dishes and he had just finished putting on his clothes when the water shut off. Claire came into the bedroom as Troy began to climb into bed. He expected her to change and go to bed without a word, as she had every night since the argument. He hadn't expected her to sit down next to him and strike up the first conversation they had in days.

"Troy, we need to talk," Claire said, not meeting his eyes.

"Claire, about the other night…" Troy began.

"Yes, about that night…I'm sorry I overreacted so much," Claire responded, "I should have seen that I was pushing you too hard. I was naïve to think that you hadn't proposed yet because you hadn't known I wanted you to. I should have known you weren't ready."

"I…yeah," Troy stammered. "I'm sorry Claire. It has nothing to do with you. I just…I'm not ready for that kind of step."

"I understand," Claire nodded. She paused for a moment, "So everything can go back to normal now, right?"

Unable to trust speaking his agreement—he felt so strongly that they were too far past being able to go back to normal that he feared he would blurt out the wrong thing — Troy just nodded.

Claire smiled, "Good. So I can tell you the idea I have."

"You want to set Chad up with Gabriella, I know," Troy interrupted. "But like I told you before, I don't' think it's a good idea."

"No what you said before was that we couldn't because Chad was with Jenna. And he's not anymore, so now's the time to. You know he won't be single long, so it's now or never," Claire responded.

"I don't think she's Chad's type," Troy replied.

"Well, there's no harm in taking them both out with us. They could get to know each other and if they don't click then so be it. If they do, then we just did them both a favor."

"Alright," Troy agreed reluctantly, "But I'm on the record saying I don't think it's a good idea."

"Noted," Claire responded.

And with that, in a span of less than twenty minutes, Troy's problems had gotten ten times worse. Rather unfortunately, there still was no solution in sight.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Here's the next chapter of Pleased to Meet You. I actually liked this chapter. There will be another note at the end, because I can't say it here it would give it away. Please vote in my poll. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM nor do I own any of the songs or artists mentioned.

**Chapter Six**

A few days later Claire set up plans for Chad and Gabriella to come out with her and Troy. She had picked a place and was refusing to tell anyone what she had planned. She just kept assuring them all that the place they were going was a place she had been to before many times and that they were going to have a lot of fun. Troy wasn't so keen on being out of the loop but he wasn't in much of a position to argue. He had just gotten back in Claire's good graces and was in no mood to be blacklisted again. He just wanted to know what he was getting into, especially if he was going to spend the whole night with Gabriella, and Chad and Claire.

Claire had them stop to eat before they walked the rest of the way to wherever they were going. The four sat around a table, while Claire and Gabriella discussed their mutual dislike for one of their coworkers. Troy and Chad remained somewhat quiet. Troy had already warned Chad that Claire was trying to subtly set him up with Gabriella. Chad had still agreed to come as a favor to Troy, so Claire wouldn't be suspicious. Though, Troy was almost certain Claire would find the fact, that he couldn't stop stealing glances at Gabriella, suspicious. It didn't help that many of the time his eyes found Gabriella she was looking right back at him—which forced him to look away quickly, swallow hard and pray that Claire hadn't seen the exchange. Troy breathed a small sigh of relief when they were finished eating and Claire led the way to the "fun" place she had chosen. She led them to what appeared to be an ordinary bar, but it was crowded for what seemed to be some kind of special event.

Claire pulled Gabriella ahead to find a table, leaving Troy and Chad to deduce on their own what was going on in the place. As they came across a huge banner draped across one wall, Troy's stomach sank to his feet.

"Karaoke, man? You are sick and twisted. _Sick_ and _twisted_," Chad shook his head, "You might as well stamp déjà vu on your forehead. Claire's gonna know something's up."

Troy was having similar thoughts as they read the sign: 'Karaoke Night – willing and unwilling volunteers welcome.'

"It wasn't my idea," Troy hissed, "I didn't know we were coming here. None of us did, remember?"

Chad chuckled and slapped Troy on the back, "Well good luck. My only suggestion is to get a hard drink in you," Chad began to follow the two girls, but turned back suddenly as if he an afterthought strike him, "Or maybe a few."

"Haha," Troy rolled his eyes, but he was seriously considering taking Chad's advice—proof his situation was dire.

They found Claire and Gabriella at a table near the center of the room. They had a direct view of the small stage where the karaoke machine and all the screens were set up. Troy glanced over at Claire, she looked excited. He couldn't fathom why Claire would choose this place on karaoke night. Claire was the last person who would get up on that stage. She might have sang in the shower or along with the radio but she wouldn't _ever_ get up in front of people and sing. She must have chosen the place so she could have a laugh at the people who were brave enough to actually take a shot at it. Or the universe was being cruel and trying to punish him for his inappropriate thoughts in recent times.

"I've been here on karaoke night once before with some of my friends from college," Claire explained, "What they do is they take sign ups where you choose your song, but they also randomly select tables and pull people on stage to sing a randomly selected song."

"So…why did you bring us here?" Chad questioned incredulously.

"Because it's fun," Claire answered.

"But none of us sing," Chad responded, his eyes on Troy as he said it.

"Then hope our table doesn't get picked," Claire rolled her eyes. "Or be drunk enough that you'll actually go up there."

"Good idea," Chad agreed. He flagged down a waiter and ordered them a round of drinks.

"Did you and Gabriella have a chance to get to know each other at your party?" Claire asked Chad, as she received her drink from the waiter.

"Uh…yeah," Chad answered, looking at Troy with wide eyes. A classic "save me" glare. Troy could only shrug; there wasn't much he could do to stop Claire when she was determined to see something through.

"She's pretty cool, huh?" Claire replied.

Gabriella blushed, "Claire, really."

"Well she is, isn't she?" Claire prompted again.

"Yeah, she's cool," Chad finally responded before gulping down his drink and waving the waiter back over for a second round. At his answer, Claire looked at Troy pointedly and winked when she caught his attention. He gritted his teeth and turned his attention onto something else.

People were still trickling in as the four were finishing their second round. Then finally a man got up on the stage to announce that he would be the "host" for the night. The night began with a group of women, who appeared to be a part of a bachelorette party, singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" rather enthusiastically. A large man from table nine, unfortunate enough to be singled out by his group, got stuck with "Bust A Move." After some Madonna and Bon Jovi, a couple of guys, who seemed to be beyond buzzed, made an attempt at "Don't Stop Believing." Table three got called out and one woman had to be literally dragged on stage by her friends for a little "Love Shack." Then after a couple more upbeat songs by willing volunteers it came around the time for another table to be pressured into singing. Troy glanced around, noticing that many of the people at the tables around him looked like they were praying not to be called on—it took him back to high school.

"Okay, okay…a song has been chosen," their host began, "Who's it going to be? I need two volunteers—one male, one female—to sing a duet. I need volunteers from lucky table number…_fourteen_!"

The spotlight swung around the room before coming to a stop to illuminate their table. All four pairs of eyes widened as everyone turned to them expectantly. Troy wanted to bang his head on the table repeatedly until he woke up from this awful nightmare. But he refrained, he already had enough attention on him, he didn't need more.

"Come on," The host prompted, "Who's it gonna be? The gentleman with the big hair? Yeah? No?"

Chad leaned forward and muttered to the rest of the table, "Look you guys, there are some things I don't do. Singing is one of them. No amount of alcohol will _ever_ change that."

The three all turned to Troy. He looked back and forth between them and seeing no way out, he groaned, "Fine." He looked desperately at Claire, "Please, Claire?"

"You know I can't carry a tune to save my life. I am not sharing that information with the rest of the room," Claire shook her head.

"This was your idea," Troy replied.

"Gabriella will sing with you, won't you Gabriella?" Claire nudged Gabriella.

"Sure," Gabriella answered, her eyes meeting Troy's.

With a sigh over the dread of what was to come, Troy stood and took Gabriella's hand to lead her to the stage. As they put some distance between them and their table, he murmured to her, "You sure about this?"

"Are you?" Gabriella whispered back.

"No," Troy answered.

"Me either," Gabriella agreed.

"I guess we don't have a choice though, do we?" Troy responded.

"Doesn't look like it," Gabriella nodded.

"Alright, alright, we've got our lucky volunteers," The host replied. "Come right on up onto the stage. Right here, good. Thanks for being good sports," The host put down his microphone as Troy and Gabriella came to stand next to him on the stage. He said quietly so only they could hear, "Are you two a couple?"

Troy shook his head, "No."

The host's eyes widened, "_Oh_, well, good luck."

Troy took the microphone offered to him. He swallowed hard and gripped and re-gripped the microphone nervously. He had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach—this was a bad, _bad_ idea. He thought about fleeing the stage, but as the music began to play he looked over at Gabriella. She offered him a reassuring smile. Troy took a deep breath and turned back to the screen as the lyrics appeared.

"Hmmmm," Troy began to sing, "Take me where I've never been. Help me on my feet again. Show me that good things come to those who wait." He turned and met Gabriella's eyes. "Tell me I'm not on my own. Tell me I won't be alone. Tell me what I'm feeling isn't some mistake." Caught up in the music, in the words, in the moment, Troy took a few steps closer to Gabriella, "'Cause if anyone can make me fall in love, you can."

Gabriella raised her own microphone to sing the next line with him, "Save me from myself, you can."

"And it's you and no one else," Troy followed on his own.

"If I could wish upon tomorrow," Gabriella picked up, "Tonight would never end."

"If you asked me…" Troy began.

"…I would follow," Gabriella finished.

"But for now, I just pretend," Troy sang clear.

"'Cause if anyone can make me fall in love," Gabriella sang low, "You can." Gabriella locked her gaze on Troy as she began the next verse. "Baby when you look at me, tell me what do you see?" She watched Troy's face through half-lidded eyes. "Are these the eyes of someone you could love?" She took a few more steps to narrow the distance between herself and Troy, "'Cause everything that brought me here, well, now it all seems so clear," Gabriella brought her arms open wide, "Baby, you're the one I've been dreaming of. If anyone can make me fall in love, you can."

Troy joined her in the next line, "Save me from myself, you can."

"And it's you and no one else," Gabriella sang alone.

"If I could wish upon tomorrow," Troy took Gabriella's hand, "Tonight would never end."

"If you asked me…" Gabriella began.

"…I would follow." Troy finished.

"But for now, I just pretend." Gabriella closed her eyes as she sang.

"'Cause if anyone can make me fall in love…" Troy trailed off before he picked up the next verse. He put all that he was feeling into the next words, "Only you can take me sailing in you deepest eyes. Bring me to my knees and make me cry. And no one's ever done this. Everything was just a lie. And I know…"

"Yes, I know," Gabriella smiled.

Their voices blended perfectly through the next chorus, "This is where it all begins. So tell me it'll never end. I can't fool myself. It's you and no one else. If I could wish upon tomorrow, tonight would never end. If you asked me, I would follow. But for now, I just pretend. If anyone can make me fall in love, you can."

The last two lines fell to Troy and he sang them staring down directly into Gabriella's eyes, "Show me that good things come to those who wait."

They didn't look away until the music began to fade away. The moment wasn't broken until the crowds of people in the room began to scream and applaud, whistle and woot. Troy suddenly remembered where he was. For a short while he had felt like he was back on that stage on New Year's Eve all those years ago, but he wasn't there. He was on a small stage, in a bar, with his girlfriend watching. Troy dropped Gabriella's hand and turned to look out at the room. People were still clapping, but the only thing Troy could see was their table a few feet away. Chad looked surprised but he was clapping along with the rest of the room. Troy's eyes, though, focused in on Claire's face. Her eyes were wide, confusion clouding them, as she stared, mouth agape, at him and Gabriella on stage. Then abruptly she bolted, heading fro the exit.

**A/N2: ** I chose a song that I thought fit the story of Troy and Gabriella in _this_ story (so it's not a common karaoke song). I put my iPod on and shuffled until I found one. So it wasn't actually a duet, but I tried to break it up reasonably as if it had been. BTW, the song is "You Can" by David Archuleta. If you heard the song, the way I broke it up might make more sense. Review please! Thanks! –Mac


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Here's Chapter Seven. I'm not sure about this chapter. I'm not sure Claire's reaction is very realistic, but it's possible. I needed her to react this way for this story, so sorry if anyone thinks it isn't realistic. It's also relatively shorter than some of my others. But there is only one more chapter after this and an epilogue…then this story is finito! Done! I'm excited. This has been sitting for so long, that to get this much done in such a short amount of time is amazing even to me. Also, please vote in the poll on my profile…some of the choices are dead even right now. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM.

**Chapter Seven**

Troy sent Gabriella an apologetic look before he took off after Claire. He finally caught up to her on the sidewalk down at the corner from the bar. She didn't stop for him when he called out her name repeatedly. He was able to catch her arm bringing her to a stop, but she wouldn't face him. He took a moment to catch his breath before he started to talk.

"Claire, please, I can explain…" Troy began.

Claire whipped around, calling out, "I should have seen it!"

"It's not what you think, Claire."

"Tell me Troy, what do I think it is?" Claire raised an eyebrow.

"You think there's something going on between Gabriella and me," Troy answered.

"Isn't there?" Claire demanded. "You can't look at someone like you were looking at her and not _feel_ something."

"Claire…I…" Troy stuttered, "I didn't…"

"I don't think you cheated on me," Claire murmured, "But the way you just were with her, I know there's something there. Something that was never there with us. It's like you've known each other far longer than a few weeks…like you've known each other for years…"

"Because we have…" Troy blurted out.

Claire's eyes widened, "What?"

"I met Gabriella on New Year's Eve _ten years ago_, back when I was still in high school. Long before I came here or met you," Troy explained. "I knew her for one night and never saw her again until you introduced her to me again—but she stuck with me. When you brought her to drinks that night, I panicked and pretended I had never seen her before."

"Why did you do that? You could have been honest with me. Instead of having me find out _like this_," Claire questioned.

"I don't know," Troy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Because it was my first instinct and I didn't want you to think I had lied to you on purpose. Because I thought you would react the wrong way. Because…"

"Because…you _knew_," Claire had a sudden realization. "You knew there was something special about her. Something that was uniquely hers."

Troy sighed, but knew that it was the time to admit it, "I knew the night I first met her…ten years ago."

Claire nodded, beginning to reach into her purse, "It figures. You didn't start acting weird until I started bringing her around. I just have one question. When did you get this?"

Claire held out a ring box and Troy's eyes widened, "Where did you get that?"

"Your gym bag—honestly Troy, not very original. I know what that is. It's your mother's engagement ring. She showed it to me the last time I saw her," Claire said. "Which means at sometime between then and now you asked her for it, to give to me. But you never did."

"I couldn't," Troy choked out. "I couldn't do that to you."

"I understand now. I thought it was because you weren't ready for the commitment. But now I see, it wasn't because it was the wrong time, it was because I was the wrong _person_."

"I didn't want you to be the wrong person," Troy responded. "I was just conflicted. I had felt that way since I asked for the ring. You wanted me to propose, Chad wanted me to get it over with, my parents wanted me to settle down. The more everyone pushed, the more I pulled away. And when Gabriella turned up, all the doubts I had doubled."

"Maybe we're both better off this way," Claire said, trying to hold back the tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Troy had nothing else he could really say. "I'm so, _so_ sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Claire agreed, "I know I pushed you, and I shouldn't have done that."

"It's not your fault. You knew what you wanted, I can't fault you for that," Troy shook his head, "I'm the one who was uncertain."

"The heart wants what it wants," Claire forced out a garbled laugh through her tears. "This is not how I pictured our night going."

"There would be a problem if it was," Troy tried to lighten the mood.

Claire nodded, "I would have been pretty demented if I had hoped for this."

"So this is it?" Troy said after they had bee standing there quietly for a long moment.

"It has to be," Claire responded, "I think I'm going to go home. I'm going to pack a bag and go stay at my brother's. I'll get the rest of my things another day."

"Claire, you don't have to do that. I can…"

"Yes, _I do_," Claire corrected, smiling weakly. "It's best if we don't see each other for awhile. I do love you Troy, but she _is_ the one for you. I could see that, the _whole bar_ could see that when you were singing with her."

"I love you too, Claire," Troy said, "You know that right?"

Claire nodded, "Just not in the way you love Gabriella."

"I don't—" Troy started.

Claire cut him off, "You do, even if you don't know it yet."

Troy hung his head, sighing, "I didn't want it to be like this."

"I know," Claire replied, "But I have faith that things will work out in the end…for both of us." She took a visible deep breath before saying, "You should be getting back inside. Tell Gabriella…"

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "Goodnight Claire."

"Good_bye_ Troy," Claire murmured smiling sadly.

Troy turned and head back toward the entrance of the bar. He didn't go inside right away. He waited for Claire to hail a cab and get inside. He watched the cab drive away until he couldn't see it anymore. And even then he stood staring out at the street. He felt as if a part of his life had just disappeared down the street with Claire. But inside the bar was another phase of his life waiting for him if he chose to take the chance. And for the first time, in a long time, he knew exactly what he wanted. A part of him told him that he had known all along, he had only just then allowed himself to want it. It was upon that realization that Troy turned on his heel and walked back into the bar.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **And here's chapter eight! It's pretty straight forward. I kind of like how this turned out. It works for an ending. And of course I had to get them to sing together one more time too. :) So there it an epilogue to this that I will post once I have it typed up which could be in a day or weeks, never know when I'll have time to spare. Blasted college. Do I really need a degree in Creative Writing? Lol. So Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical. But I do own the new _High School Musical 3: Senior Year _2 Disc Extended Edition DVD. Yay Me! Oh and I don't own any of the songs or artists you may recognize.

**Chapter Eight**

As Troy approached the table upon reentering the bar, he found only Chad present. Chad saw him coming and jumped up to meet him halfway. Chad grabbed his arm and dragged him to a somewhat secluded corner when he began to speak, Troy could barely hear him over a pitchy rendition of "Mamma Mia."

"Dude, what happened? Where's Claire?" Chad demanded.

"On her way home," Troy answered, "We broke up."

"Man, I'm sorry," Chad replied. "But I can imagine why. You kind of went all out on that stage. I mean, were you listening to the words?"

"I could feel the words. It was like I didn't even need to read them off the screen. It felt the same way when we sang on New Year's."

"I guess that's something," Chad replied, as he watched Troy turn, his gaze returning to the table and then scanning the room. "She's in the bathroom. She didn't leave."

The relief was evident in Troy's eyes when he turned back to face Chad, "Good. I need to talk to her."

"About?" Chad raised an eyebrow.

"About how I think I am falling for her," Troy answered simply—he had no reason to hide it anymore.

"What?"

Troy whipped around to find Gabriella standing behind him. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, "Gabriella, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you say that you think you're falling for me," Gabriella murmured.

"That's my cue to go be…_somewhere else_," Chad piped up. "You two have a nice talk. I'll be over there, in _that_ direction."

The two watched Chad walked away. Once he was gone Troy spoke up, "You weren't meant to hear it like that."

"But I was meant to hear it?" Gabriella questioned, "Troy, it's not right. Whatever this is between us, we can't act on it."

"So you agree that there's something between us?" Troy responded.

"That's not the point," Gabriella shook her head, somewhat flustered. "What about Claire, Troy?"

"We just broke up," Troy answered.

"Right, you _just_ broke up," Gabriella replied. "Do you think it's appropriate to try and begin a relationship with me, when you just got out not even fifteen minutes ago?"

"I don't know, I don't," Troy said, "All I know is, that night, all those years ago we, connected. I knew the moment I heard your voice, the moment I looked into your eyes and could feel everything you felt…that song, the words," Troy softly began to sing to her, "'This is the start of something new, it feels so right to be here with you. And now, looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart…the start of something new…'"

Gabriella closed her eyes, "You still remember that?"

"Tell me you don't," Troy challenged and her eyes flew open. "You do, because it meant something to you, just like it did to me. I knew I had met the _perfect_ girl for me but I resigned myself to the fact that I had lost her and I would probably never see her again. So, I tried to move on, but I compared each of the girls I dated to this impossible standard and of course they didn't live up to it.

"Then Claire came along. She wasn't a perfect fit but she was about as close as I was going to get. At least I wasn't trying to shove a square peg into a round hole anymore," Troy took a deep breath, "But she was still never quite right. And then I actually see you again and it just brought a whole new rush of problems…"

"Troy, I…" Gabriella started.

Troy cut her off, "It's not your fault though. I shouldn't have stayed with Claire as long as I did. Honestly, though, it's okay even if you don't feel the same or if you don't want to be with me. I'm just happy you are back in my life, even this long.

"And I can thank you, because if you hadn't, I probably would have already proposed to Claire, been halfway down the aisle and knee-deep in plans for a future that I wouldn't want I'd be miserable." Troy smiled, "And I have to say the last few days, the last few weeks, however long it's been, have been the best I've had in ten years."

Gabriella returned the smile, "I have to agree with you there. Ever since that night I…it hasn't felt…"

"…_right_," they finished at the same time.

"Yeah," Gabriella laughed lightly, "But since I've spent time with you, everything seems to feel better."

"Like all that time was worth it, because we still found our way back to each other," Troy added.

"Exactly," Gabriella breathed, "I have to admit something. At Chad's party…I wanted you to kiss me so badly. I felt terrible about it, because of Claire and everything…but I was disappointed when you didn't."

"I wanted to kiss you too," Troy admitted, "But it wouldn't have been right then."

"What about now?" Gabriella prompted with a small smirk.

"Now…I've never felt so right about something in my entire life," Troy answered, a smile growing on both their faces.

"Same here," Gabriella agreed.

Troy tentatively stepped closer to Gabriella and slowly pulled her into his arms. Their eyes locked onto each other's for a brief moment before sliding closed as they closed the distance. As his lips met hers for the very first time, Troy knew that no matter what had happened, he had gotten to where he was supposed to be. He pulled Gabriella even closer and deepened the kiss. He was almost lost in her—when someone clearing their throat interrupted them. They broke apart to find the host of the Karaoke night standing next to them.

"Huh," He scoffed, "You lied to me."

Gabriella bit her lip, and Troy answered frustrated, "Nah, we didn't. You just interrupted the very first kiss of our relationship."

"Oh, congratulations then," the host chose to ignore the "go-away" signals. Troy was sending him. "_So_…I have a favor to ask. I need a last act to bring down the house, and the place is buzzing for an encore. What do you say?"

Troy and Gabriella shared a look, trying to decide if they wanted to get on stage again. Then the smiles broke out once again. "Sure we'd love to."

"Great," he clapped his hands, rubbing them together in anticipation. "You'll go on after I get the ladies at table eleven to sing 'Single Ladies.'" He walked away chuckling to himself. "'All my single ladies, all my single ladies…if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it...' Damn that song gets stuck in your head."

Troy and Gabriella burst into laughter as the guy sang a little of the song to himself. When it subsided, Troy offered his hand to Gabriella. She took it and they walked back to their table. They sat down next to Chad and watched the current act finish up. As that person left the stage, the spotlight circled the room, landing on table eleven. The host smiled and took the microphone.

"Okay, you lucky ladies. I want the whole table up here for some Sasha Fierce!"

The women seemed to talk it over for a moment. After a couple shrugs, the women crowded onto the stage. Microphones were handed out, the music started, and everyone got a good laugh watching the women dance around while singing off key. They finished with dramatic diva poses and while the audience clapped, they headed off the stage. The host took his place at the center of the stage once again.

"Great job! Thank you ladies," He replied. "So I've got a treat for you, for the last performance of the night. Two earlier participants—" He was interrupted by a couple cheers and whistles, "—you know who they are, have agreed to take the stage again. Come on up here guys."

Once again Troy and Gabriella made their way up to the stage. This time, though, there was no nervousness, no apprehension. Instead they felt like they belonged there, _together_. They were both handed microphones and the room went quiet as the music started.

"'If the heart is always searching,'" Gabriella began to sing, "'can it ever find a home?'"

"I've been looking for that someone," Troy followed, "I'll never make it on my own."

"Dreams can't take the place of loving you," Gabriella closed her eyes against the emotion the song brought forth.

"There's gotta be a million reasons why that's true," they sang together.

"When you look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, when you're right here by my side," Troy began the chorus.

"When you look me in the eyes, I catch a glimpse of heaven. I find my paradise, when you look me in the eyes," Gabriella closed the chorus and began the next verse. "How long will I be waiting to be with you again. Gonna tell you that I love you, in the best way that I can."

"I can't take a day without you here," Troy continued, "You're the light that makes my darkness disappear."

"When you look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me," Gabriella turned to Troy, looking deep into his eyes, "Everything's alright. When you're right here by my side."

"When you look me in the eyes, I catch a glimpse of heaven," Troy took her free hand in his and pulled her closer. "I find my paradise, when you look me in the eyes."

Together they sang the last verse, "More and more I start to realize, I can reach my tomorrow, I can hold my head up high. And it's all because you're by my side."

"When you look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me. Everything's alright, when you're right here by my side," Troy brought Gabriella into his arms, causing her to smile. "When I hold you in my arms, I know that it's forever. I just gotta let you know, I never wanna let you go."

"When you look me in the eyes, yeah," Gabriella sang clear.

"And tell me that you love me," Troy and Gabriella began to sing the last chorus, voices in harmony, "Everything's alright, when you're right here by my side. When you look me in the eyes. I catch a glimpse of heaven. I find my paradise when you look me in the eyes."

"Ohhh," Troy finished and, as the music faded out, he closed the distance between himself and Gabriella to kiss her.

The bar erupted into cheers. The host was clapping somewhere close behind them. Troy was even pretty sure he had heard Chad yelling for them. Gabriella's arms wrapped around his neck, prompting him to deepen the kiss. He knew as the song had said so well, he had found his paradise. He was right where he belonged with her right by his side.

**The end…sort of.**

**A/N2: **Epilogue to come! Review please…you know you want to. The button is like right there waiting for you to push it. Click it, click it now! :) Thanks so much for reading! –Mac


	9. Epilogue

**A/N: **This is the last chapter, the epilogue. I am officially done with this story. Now I have one or two more Multi-Chapter stories that need my attention. But I will probably be starting a new one soon. By the way, if you haven't voted in my poll yet you should! As of right now Life with Derek is leading, but who knows…Anyway, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM.

**Epilogue**

**Ten Years Later**

Troy walked into the coffee shop he went to on a regular basis since he had moved out of his old apartment and into a larger place a few blocks away. He greeted one of the baristas, who knew him, cleaning a table near the entrance as he came in. After a short wait in line, Troy had put in his usual order. He stood back to wait for his coffee. His name was called and he picked up his cup. As he turned to leave he spotted a figure sitting alone at a table on the other side of the room. He glanced back and forth between the exit and the table. With a sigh, he made a decision. He weaved his way across the room until he stood in front of the table.

"Hi there, I saw you sitting here all alone and I thought I would come over and introduce myself," Troy reached out his hand, "I'm Troy."

The woman's eyes locked on his and widened, but she shook his hand anyway, "I'm Claire."

"Pleased to meet you, Claire," Troy replied, sitting down in the chair across from her.

"Same to you Troy," Claire smiled.

"How have you been?" Troy asked, dropping the act, "It's been…"

"Nearly ten years," Claire nodded. "I've been good. And you?"

Troy thought about it for a moment, "I've been…just amazing."

"I heard you got married," Claire stated.

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "Gabriella and I got married after about a year of being together. The best thing I ever did. You know, we still go to that bar for the karaoke night. It's like our little tradition."

"That's great. I'm happy for you," Claire responded, "Do you have any kids?"

"Two, actually, and one on the way," Troy answered, grinning widely at the thought of his children, "Charlie is six and Emma is four. Our third is due the end of next month, another boy."

"Congratulations," Claire replied. "Do you have any pictures?"

"Oh yeah," Troy nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped through it and retrieved a wallet sized photo handing it to Claire. It was a portrait of the Bolton family—Troy, Gabriella and her rounded belly, and their two kids. "That was taken a couple weeks ago."

"You have a beautiful family Troy," Claire said as she handed him the picture back.

"Last I heard, you did too," Troy responded as he tucked away the picture.

"I met Peter a couple months after we broke up. We got married not long after you and Gabriella. Our daughter Evangeline is the same age as your son," Claire explained, and then after a moment added, "We're very happy."

"That's great," Troy replied. He took a long sip of his coffee. "Did you hear about Chad?"

"No, what happened to Chad?" Claire questioned.

"The unthinkable," Troy chuckled. "…He got married."

"No!" Claire exclaimed, "To who?"

"Do you remember Jenna?" Troy asked.

Claire nodded, "They got back together?"

"No, at his birthday right before they broke up she introduced him to a friend of hers from Yale. Turns out that he ran into this woman again not that long ago and she's not as much of a torturous bore as he thought she was when they first met. He invited her out for coffee and the rest is history," Troy explained. "Funny thing is, this girl went to our high school. Can you believe that? We spent four years walking the same halls as her and neither of us remembers ever speaking to her. We ran in different crowds I guess."

"And he's happy?" Claire asked, "Because I never thought I would see the day that he settled down."

"He's very happy," Troy nodded. "Taylor, that's his wife, just found out she was pregnant a few months ago. Gabriella and I went with them to register for their baby shower. He kept going on and on about how he was sure it was going to be a boy and how he and our youngest were only going to be a few months apart, which was perfect because they would be best friends like me and him. I don't think I've ever seen Chad so excited to do something domestic."

Claire smiled, "Who would have thought?"

"Certainly not me. But the guy's full of surprises," Troy responded with a laugh. "And he made a great choice, Taylor's a wonderful woman—way out of his league but oddly enough, just right for him. She's gotten him to grow up some, which he's needed to do since…well…kindergarten. She and Gabriella have gotten along like old friends since they met, which is a plus."

There was a short silence as both Claire and Troy sipped at their coffees. With most of the "safe" small talk out of the way, it was hard for either to find something to say. Claire sighed, there was something she felt she needed to say, but she wasn't sure if she should test the waters on the "better left unspoken" topics of conversation. Tentatively, she began to speak.

"You know, Troy, after we broke up, I thought…"

"Claire, you don't have to…"

"Actually, I do," Claire shook her head. "After we broke up I thought that if I ever saw you again I wouldn't be able to talk to you because ultimately we would get on the topic of you and Gabriella and how wonderful your lives were. I didn't want to see her as the woman, who had stolen you away from me— because really it was me stealing you away from her, wasn't it? But when I saw her at work, I wanted to be able to talk to her and still be her friend, but I couldn't help but think about how she had you and I didn't."

"Claire, neither of us set out to hurt you," Troy began, "And we were both so sorry that we did."

"I know that. It took some time to realize it but we did the right thing," Claire nodded. "If we hadn't broken up when we did, we would have ultimately broken up in the near future. And I know I made it sound like everything was going to be okay when we broke up that night, but I didn't believe a word I was saying. I was heartbroken. How could I not be? I was in love with you, I thought we were going to get married and live happily ever after. But we weren't on the same page. I should have seen that."

"It wasn't your job to know the things I wasn't telling you, Claire," Troy responded, "There were so many things I felt I couldn't say to you."

"That is the exact reason I know we weren't meant to be together," Claire replied, "We are exactly where we are supposed to be right now."

"We are," Troy agreed, nodding slightly. He glanced down at his watch. "Wow, look at the time. It got away from us, didn't it?"

"Yeah it did," Claire said.

"I have to go. Charlie had a bit of a play date this morning and I have to pick him up," Troy explained as he began to stand up.

Claire stood as well, "Wouldn't want you to be late."

Troy smiled, "It was great talking to you."

"It was," Claire nodded, "Maybe we could all get together sometime?"

"I would like that, and I think Gabriella would like that a lot," Troy replied. "Let me write down my number for you."

Claire reached into her purse for a pen and paper. Troy quickly jotted down his number and handed the scrap of paper and pen back to her. After another round of goodbyes, they shared a quick hug and Troy disappeared out of the coffee shop. Claire watched him leave before sitting back down in her seat. Replaying the meeting back over in her mind, Claire smiled. Everything had worked out the way it should have—and she had to take back the declaration she had made right after she and Troy broke up. She had for awhile wished she had never met Troy Bolton. Now, she felt she had to be pleased to have met him, because she never would have made it to where she was without having the experience of knowing him. As he walked away, Troy was having similar thoughts—without Claire, he probably wouldn't have seen Gabriella again and he wouldn't have the life he had come to love so much. The life he was going home to right then.

-+-+-+-+-

Troy and Charlie arrived back at their home not long after Troy had picked Charlie up from his friend's house. Troy tossed the keys on the small table next to the front door and stowed away Charlie's backpack in the coat closet. As he began to hang up both his and Charlie's coats, he gave Charlie a simple direction.

"Hey Charlie, find mommy and Em. Tell them we're home."

Charlie grinned and took off running down the hall, his voice echoing off the walls as he yelled, "Moooommy! We're Hooommme!"

Troy chuckled and finished putting away the coats, before following after his son. He found his family, moments later, in his and Gabriella's bedroom. The three were curled up on their large bed watching cartoons. Charlie was already immersed in whatever the latest trendy cartoon was. Emma was nestled between her older brother and her mother. Her eyes focused on the TV. Gabriella was propped up against the headboard, one hand resting on her pregnant belly. She looked up and smiled as Troy entered the room. He kicked off his shoes and crawled onto the bed with them.

"Hi," Gabriella murmured.

Troy dropped a small kiss to her lips, "Hi."

"Everything go okay?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah. Apparently there was a short moment where Jeremy didn't want to share his action figures, but everything got settled and Charlie left all smiles," Troy explained.

"That's good," Gabriella replied. "Did you get your coffee like you wanted?"

"I did," Troy nodded, "You'll never guess who I ran into at the coffee place."

"Who?" Gabriella grew curious.

"Claire," Troy answered simply.

Gabriella took a moment to process, "How is she?"

"Married just like we heard. She has a daughter the same age as Charlie," Troy said, "She looks happy."

"Just like us," Gabriella responded.

"Just like us," Troy agreed, smiling brightly. "You know meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me, right?"

"You're the best thing to ever happen to me too, Mr. Bolton," Gabriella replied.

"Well, Mrs. Bolton, that is good to hear," Troy whispered back, capturing her lips in a deep kiss.

They broke apart at the sound of their children's harmonized yell of, "Eeeeeww!!"

Troy and Gabriella shared a look before bursting into laughter. They both knew they had found their happily ever after in that moment. It had taken a long time to get there, but there was no denying they were meant to be right where they were.

**The End**


End file.
